This proposal may be regarded as part of a general effort to develop a comprehensive data base and an understanding of the phenomena known as tinnitus (in patients with sensorineural losses caused by noise trauma or exposure). An attempt is made to use perceptual and psychophysical data to specify the likely site of the generation of tinnitus (i.e., peripheral or retrocochlear), its lability, and an auditory theory based on imbalance in tuning and suppression regions, delineating the mechanism generating the tinnitus. Using the results of the psychophysical data, it seems likely that an objective test for subjective tinnitus can be established.